UN RC Speech at PBF Joint Steering Committee

Dear Almaz Nasirdinovich [Head of Political and Economic Research Department in the Administration of President of the Kyrgyz Republic],

Esteemed representatives of the Government, UN colleagues, civil society and development partners.

I am truly happy that today we are having the first meeting of the re-established Joint Steering Committee for the Peacebuilding Fund in Kyrgyzstan. I am thrilled that we can now reconvene in person after the deadly COVID-19 epidemic, which disrupted our normal operation.

Let me start by thanking the President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Japarov for supporting the eligibility of Kyrgyzstan for the Peacebuilding Fund. I wish to mention outstanding collaboration with the previous chairperson of the Joint Steering Committee Mr Kudaibergen Bazarbaev who was championing the PBF eligibility and programmes implementation. I am also grateful to Mr Almaz Isanov and his Department colleagues, with whom we worked and continue working on multiple vital development issues, including the PBF programming, and who organized today’s meeting.

The UN Secretary General has granted Kyrgyzstan a new eligibility in June 2021. We believe this is an excellent opportunity to support implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals in the Kyrgyz Republic and strengthen cohesion, unity and address the sustaining peace risks in the country. We, the UN, remain committed to working together with you to lead the country to prosperity.

The Peacebuilding Fund over years proved to be a reliable source of funding. In previous decade 49 million US dollars were allocated for sustaining peace projects in the Republic. Projects supported interethnic cooperation, prevention of violent extremism, and building social cohesion. In the current phase, three projects - with the total budget of 5.1 million US dollars – are already working.

One of the key principles of the PBF operation is the ownership of results by the national partners, the Government and civil society. The ownership means that all our projects are aligned with priorities identified by the President of the Kyrgyz Republic, and linked to key state documents like, especially, Kyrgyz Jarany, State Youth Policy Concept and others. Ownership also means that the Government has a decisive role in shaping the programmes, and all projects are signed by a government representative. Ownership is also important because it ensures the sustainability of project results. Let me add that often PBF projects are catalytic, meaning that they attract attention of international community to issues addressed by PBF and bring additional resources to solve them.

An important element of the ownership is this Joint Steering Committee, which engages relevant institutions from the Joint Working Group established by the Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers. The Joint Steering Committee is a guiding body in discussing sustaining peace issues and PBF programming in Kyrgyzstan. The purpose of today’s meeting is to approve the Terms of Reference of this Joint Steering Committee, approve the Strategic Results Framework, present on-going projects, approve their workplans, and briefly provide an outline of upcoming projects. As you see the agenda is very demanding, and I am counting on your involvement and support, also beyond today’s meeting, and wish us all a fruitful discussion.

Chon Rakhmat.